Potmos Hetoimos
Potmos Hetoimos (often shortened to PH) is an American solo project from Baltimore, Maryland started in 2006 by Matt Matheson. The project's music focuses on storytelling, with the lyrics and concept being integral to the compositions. The name is taken from Plato's "Apology" which means "doom is at hand" in ancient Greek. History Potmos Hetoimos was born out of Matt Matheson's progressive metal project Metagloria. "Scattered and Peeled" was the first song to be recorded under the "Potmos Hetoimos" moniker. All of this led to the release of its debut album Proclaim Thy Judgment, which was completely improvised at the time of recording, thus giving it a loose and creative feel that stands apart from later releases. The Millstone and Dance with Divinity are large-scale concept albums, while Suffering the Storm has no guitar, making it driven entirely by bass. Kingdoms and The Greater Gospel saw a greater influence of artists like Cult of Luna and Rosetta, as Potmos Hetoimos shifted toward progressive post-metal. Songs from these albums tend to serve better as standalone pieces than on earlier albums, with standouts including "Thrones", "Matriarch", "Sector 7" and "The Crumbling Dam". Potmos Hetoimos then drastically shifted gears with the release of Agatha, a pure funeral doom album inspired by Monolithe, Esoteric, and Ahab. Originally a standalone concept album, the universe of Agatha was expanded with the prequel Evelyn and the connecting conclusion Maribel, with each album ramping up the psychedelic and orchestral elements. Maribel features violin, flute, and clarinet as primary instruments. Potmos Hetoimos also began to utilize guest appearances more during this era, collaborating with Mike Armine of Rosetta, Chris Grigg of Woe, and James Dorton of Black Crown Initiate among others. While working on a funeral doom trilogy, Potmos Hetoimos had not forsaken its sludge and post-metal roots, so there was an enormous amount of non-doom material waiting to be recorded after Maribel. Always fond of excess, Potmos Hetoimos elected to release all of that and more on the triple album The Paragon Trisagion. Clocking in at three hours and 17 minutes, this release covered post-metal ("Light Wells", "Synthetic Eclipse"), progressive stoner metal ("Queen of the Fire", "Residence Altar"), and more straightforward prog metal ("Heliamartia", "Shadetree") as well as unusual diversions ("Blue Agave Prism", "Nostalgia Nausea") before the grand finale, "Wayward Stars" – a 55-minute prog epic that would make Arjen Lucassen and Neal Morse proud. Guests on The Paragon Trisagion included Persefone's Carlos Lozano, Crib45's Teemu Mantynen, First Reign's Sean Lang, and members of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society. For the next album, Vox Medusae, Potmos Hetoimos expanded its ambitious progressive sludge sound to incorporate elements of blackened hardcore as well as jazz and funk, making use of saxophone, piano, and slap bass throughout the album. The album was released on Not Music Records. Musical style Although Potmos Hetoimos is classified as a doom metal project, its generally heavy and slow-paced music incorporates elements of post-metal, black metal, jazz, noise, stoner rock, funk, and drone. Discography *''Proclaim Thy Judgment'' (2006) *''The Millstone'' (2006) *''Suffering the Storm'' (2007) *''Dance with Divinity'' (2007) *''Kingdoms'' (2008) *''The Greater Gospel'' (2009) *''Agatha'' (2010) *''Evelyn'' (2011) *''Maribel'' (2013) *''The Paragon Trisagion'' (2015) *''Vox Medusae'' (2018) Members Current Members *Matt Matheson — all instruments, vocals (2006–present) External Links *Encyclopedia Metallum *Bandcamp *Facebook Category:Band Category:USA Category:Doom Metal Category:Progressive Doom Category:Sludge Metal Category:Solo Project Category:Jazz Category:Progressive Metal